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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828222">My Heart Isn’t Stone (Though It Has Walls)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchrodingersAuthor/pseuds/SchrodingersAuthor'>SchrodingersAuthor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And somebody shows up with a sledgehammer, And that fetishization/ “positive” discrimination is still racism, Angst, Brainwashing, Gen, How can we make Ba Sing Se's dystopian police state even more horrifying?, I know: by making more people wholly and utterly convinced that the Dai Li are RIGHT, In a mansions with a 50+ year old suspicious disappearance, It’s important to me that u know that adoption can literally be a form of genocide, It’s like looking at pretty old white columns, Mindbending, Viva la gen revolution, WooOooo spooky foreshadowing, and that is a threat, blame muffinlance, there will be copious amounts of fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 13:08:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,695</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828222</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchrodingersAuthor/pseuds/SchrodingersAuthor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jet's accusations of firebending get taken a little more seriously, Iroh discovers that there’s no such thing as good Dai Li attention. Zuko would beg to differ- if he knew anything about it, that is.</p><p>Aka the fic where Ba Sing Se loves its loyal firebenders, the Dai Li are incredibly paternalistic as well as creepy, and Zuko is far too adoptable for his own good. Ah well: nothing like a good old fashioned custody battle to bring a revolution together.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>581</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Look at This Actual First Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts">MuffinLance</a>.</li>



    </ul><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>If we the audience hate Jet, how do the enforcer of order feel?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Returning readers may have noticed that this is not, in fact, the page that they once read several months ago. This is a Real Fic now, and the outline is in the back of the series where normal outlines go. All chapters have been beta'd by the fan-tabulous Mayfriend, so you should reread even if you somehow don't need the refresher for the months long update. I warned y'all from the beginning, so I won't apologize for that.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The largest city in the world, Agent Chen mused, and yet there’s always That Guy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That Guy: the biggest asshole, the most annoying idiot, the stranger you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> thankful you never have to see again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yet you do. Again. And again. And again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This week, That Guy was Jet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Chen wasn’t prejudiced. He’d barely been Middle Ring himself, and grew up around the children and grandchildren of refugee tradespeople. He didn’t see immigrants as some inherent affront to the order of Ba Sing Se, unlike quite a few of his fellow Dai Li, unfortunately. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But he </span>
  <em>
    <span>despised</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jet with every fiber of his soul.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was mostly his gaggle of underage ‘friends’ that Agent Chen objected to. Jet started by recruiting conveniently young, isolated refugees for illicit activity before he even set foot in Ba Sing Se, and he hadn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>stopped </span>
  </em>
  <span>since. Everywhere Jet went, a string of petty theft and rabble-rousing followed, and some other kid - and it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> a kid, no older than Jet but often noticeably younger - got the rap. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In a way, the attempted murder was a relief. There was Jet himself, in front of a crowd of witnesses, stating and demonstrating his clear intentions to harm tea shop workers. </span>
  <em>
    <span>No way </span>
  </em>
  <span>could even he ferret-weasel himself out of this one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Had the attempting been closer to committing, Agent Chen would be less blasé. But the golden-eyed refugee was </span>
  <em>
    <span>more</span>
  </em>
  <span> than holding his own. He should probably be concerned about the Fire Nation teenager having advanced combat skills, but it was certainly convenient right now. And it wasn’t like they’d ever actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>found</span>
  </em>
  <span> a spy instead of a deserter. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite the fact that firebenders didn’t tend to learn blades, let alone as well as the boy that Jet had attacked, Agent Chen still hoped Jet was right. There was at least one untrained or half-trained firebender on every ferry coming into the city, but fully trained deserters were as rare and as valuable as tempered steel.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>There is no war in Ba Sing Se</span>
  </em>
  <span>, after all, and fire fueled all the things that made them a civilization instead of a mound of rocks. If the Fire Nation was stupid enough to drive away firebenders, that was their loss and the Ba Sing Se's gain. There was a reason Ba Sing Se had the finest pottery in the Earth Kingdom, and the best healing houses, as well as the most excellent food and drink and could boast the longest stretch (take </span>
  <em>
    <span>that, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Omashu) of not being burnt to the ground because one (1) idiot left their cooking fire unattended.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Every house needed a hearth fire, and Ba Sing Se guarded hers </span>
  <em>
    <span>jealously</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’d take both now, Agent Chen decided. The maybe-firebender was probably an unusually gifted but otherwise ordinary deserter, but they had to </span>
  <em>
    <span>know, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and delaying would just cause him unnecessary stress in the long run. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chen signaled his partner, and at the answering nod, the two of them jumped off the roof and approached the fight in perfect synchrony, the crowd melting before them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Drop your weapons,” Agent Chen ordered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both boys lowered, but did not drop, their weapons. Which was annoying, but not incredibly surprising. The darker one pointed accusingly at the pair of tea shop workers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Arrest them- they’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>firebenders</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” He demanded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Excuse </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. First of all, it was for the Dai Li to decide who to arrest, not impudent little weasel-snakes like you</span>
  <em>
    <span>. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Secondly-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This poor boy is confused,” the older refugee interjected. ”We're just simple refugees.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A thin, older man pointed at Jet. “This young man </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrecked</span>
  </em>
  <span> my tea shop, and assaulted my employees!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yet another man piped up. “It's true sir, we saw the whole thing. This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, ho, ho. That's very sweet.” The old refugee honest to Shu </span>
  <em>
    <span>blushed</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Chen’s partner stepped forward.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come with us, son,” he said to the wheat-chewing maniac. (And where was he even </span>
  <em>
    <span>finding </span>
  </em>
  <span>wheat stalks? They were nowhere </span>
  <em>
    <span>near</span>
  </em>
  <span> the agricultural district.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Chen gestured for the significantly less infuriating refugee’s ‘borrowed’ swords. The boy hesitated for a second, but handed them over. This left Agent Chen’s hands full when Jet attacked his partner, which was just as well. Agent Chen would have been far less </span>
  <em>
    <span>nice</span>
  </em>
  <span> in disarming and restraining the menace.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don't understand! They're Fire Nation! You have to believe me!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Chen handed his swords to the guard with the empty sheaths, and snorted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of </span>
  <em>
    <span>course</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” He said dryly, “They’re Fire Nation! That </span>
  <em>
    <span>obviously</span>
  </em>
  <span> negates assault and property damage. Just like it says in my Ba Sing Se law manual.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He thumbed through the case notebook in his pocket without moving his gaze, and snapped it shut with a satisfying <em>thwip</em>. “Oh look, absolutely </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing</span>
  </em>
  <span> on the legality of being Fire Nation or firebenders. And certainly no law that makes harassing and assaulting them legal.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Admittedly, that did not deescalate the situation. At all. But damn, was it satisfying.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jet was a slippery little eel-snake, but five minutes and a timely assist from city guards later they </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span> had him firmly locked in a one way wagon to Lake Laogai. If there was a sound more joyous than the <em>clink</em> of the lock, Agent Chen had yet to hear it and probably never would.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Chen brushed off his robes in disdain, then addressed the guardsmen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I want statements from everyone who witnessed the attack - just in case. It’d be a tragedy if that one missed the </span>
  <em>
    <span>full and complete</span>
  </em>
  <span> weight of the law.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of the guard raised a brow. “That’s a lot of unnecessary work for us ground-pounders, if you’ll beg my pardon, Agent.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Chen looked him dead in the eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will </span>
  <em>
    <span>personally</span>
  </em>
  <span> take statements if needed.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The guardsman whistled. “So it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>personal, huh?” With a sigh, he nodded at the golden-eyed refugee trying to become one with the shadows of the ruined tea shop. “Alright, I’ll help with your little vendetta - as long as you take the participant statement.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The boy tensed, but said nothing, obviously fighting the overwhelming flight instinct so many refugees possessed. The grey-haired tea maker beside him squeezed his shoulder and murmured something too softly for anyone else to hear. Probably something along the lines of </span>
  <em>
    <span>you’ve done nothing wrong, it’ll be fine.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Perfect. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Certainly,” Agent Chen agreed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Chen walked toward the two refugees with his best Friendly Law Enforcer face. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the young refugee somehow managed to tense even </span>
  <em>
    <span>further</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but the old man smiled beatifically. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come with me, son,” he said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And, with one final pat on the shoulder from the older refugee, the boy went. Taut as a bowstring, yes, but unquestionably cooperative. Agent Chen kept an iron grip on his shoulder, though. Just in case. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘Just in case’ turned out to be ‘in case we get separated in the crowds,’ not ‘in case he runs.’ The kid had no idea how to walk through a throng of people, even with Agent Chen’s uniform clearing out the worst of the crush. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> fresh enough off the boat the Middle Ring markets could still sell him if he were a pom-apple. Speaking of which-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s your name, kid?” he asked. He couldn’t keep on thinking of him as ‘the boy’ or ‘the kid’.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...Li.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can call me Agent Chen,” Chen told him. “I don’t know if anyone told you how things work, so I’m going to start from the beginning.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We are the Dai Li. We were originally formed by Avatar Kyoshi to protect the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se, but since we’re only three-hundred years old we’ve ended up doing everything that the older establishments either didn’t want to or didn’t know how to do."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“For the past hundred years, that’s mostly meant helping out the Guard. It sounds odd, but finding and prosecuting smugglers and forgers of cultural artifacts gave us cross jurisdiction from our inception, so when the Guard couldn’t keep up, we adapted to do what they couldn’t, or they don’t have time for.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Relax: we’re short on smugglers and forgers this week, so we’re taking the Guard’s backlog,” Chen tried to put the boy at ease somewhat. “If the Guard wasn’t so short staffed, you’d be in the same line as everyone else back there. Can’t say you’ll enjoy the scenery here better, though.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Chen gestured at the lake before bending open Entrance Three.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Li stood open-mouthed at the walkway that was revealed, his breath a mindlessly perfect execution of a textbook breath control exercise. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>What</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re earthbenders,” Agent Chen explained, “Very good ones. Didn’t work out very well for visitors when we got to choose our office space.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ah, it was a real shame Li was too stunned to appreciate his wit. With a sigh, Agent Chen prodded him towards the entrance to the headquarters- and the moment of truth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jet wasn’t wrong about the firebending. Li began shaking the instant the earth closed over his head, cutting him off from the open sky. Firebenders reacted… very poorly to the sudden absence of sun. The test wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>intentional</span>
  </em>
  <span> by any means, but only the most phlegmatic of firebending masters could enter Lake Laogai without revealing themselves, and Li was little more than a child.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Chen raised a calming hand to the boy’s shoulder and received a face full of panicked sparks for his trouble. It was not unexpected, and also not an issue: Dai Li uniforms were fireproof for a reason, and Li’s flames were a cool red from hyperventilation. Agent Chen carefully herded the panicky firebender backwards-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-and another Agent caught him from behind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Word traveled fast amongst the Dai Li, fast enough that the backbone of the firebender re-education unit met them at the door. Agent Sho wasn’t remotely close to head of that project, but that gave him ample opportunity for the actual hands-on work. Nobody even remembered the actual head’s name: in the field, Agent Sho’s word was law, end all and be all. It boded well for the boy that he was getting the best.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Sho didn’t bother with rock gloves, just executed a quick, barehanded jab to the boy’s neck. He immediately dropped, boneless, against his attacker. Agent Sho laid him down with the practiced ease of a man who had performed the same movement a hundred times before and fished a pouch from his pocket.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For all the inconvenience that firebenders’ metabolisms caused both them and the Dai Li, it did at least make them safe to drug in the field. They needed a dose half as much again as non-firebenders of comparable age, sex, and size, but tolerated considerably higher doses with little issue. Hardly anyone carried the fast dissolving valerian-poppy wafers because they were only useful for </span>
  <em>
    <span>confirmed</span>
  </em>
  <span> firebenders, but even the greenest Agents recognized the red-green-gold wrapping.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Sho perfunctorily checked the boy’s pulse and breathing, then bent the floor underneath their firebender into a stretcher. Agent Chen waited in the exact parade rest required in the presence of a senior agent. The older agent quirked an eyebrow at him and his textbook stance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mighty exciting day for a newbie,” Agent Sho said. “I wouldn’t let it go to your head; things are usually much more boring.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, sir,” Agent Chen replied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Sho cracked a grin like a fault line in granite. “Aw, why so formal? I’d think you’d be angling for more Lower Ring patrols after </span>
  <em>
    <span>this.”</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Chen laughed - but didn’t budge. Agent Sho rolled his eyes. “Dismissed, Agent. Go forth and heckle the snooty First Ringers in the breakroom. Tell them the cool senior agent told you to.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>By the time Agent Chen stopped asphyxiating on his own spit, Agent Sho and the firebender were long gone. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well, if he had</span>
  <em>
    <span> permission</span>
  </em>
  <span> to brag...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Sho gently tilted the firebender’s face to the side, marveling at the horrific scar that covered half the boy’s face. There was a story there: training accidents didn’t look like that, and neither did combat wounds - those from a fair fight, anyways. This was the clean edged brutality of an execution or torture, and several years old on the skin of a half-grown teenager.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gold - bright, bright gold - eyes blinked open, and Agent Sho quickly bent the stone chair’s restraints closed. With some careful timing, they shouldn’t be necessary. But Agent Sho hadn’t built a career on shouldn’ts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The procedure was simple: an interrogation trance didn’t require full consciousness, let alone memory formation. Should everything go as expected, they’d wait out the final amnesiac effects of the drugs, segway into a light re-education trance, and the firebender would wake up in an hour or so in one of the ‘interrogation rooms’ to gentle prodding about the last time he’d eaten. A little theatre, and he’d go home without ever suspecting he’d never actually passed out from hunger and stress.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Should everything </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>go as expected… well, he was already in the chair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Agent Sho’s partner lit the lamp and set it spinning around the room. Agent Sho bent the date onto the earthen tablet with the faintest flicks of fingers. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Firebender, male, name…</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>There is no war in Ba Sing Se… There is no war within the walls… Here we are safe… Here we are free… Here we are safe… there is no fear… Here we are safe… there are no secrets… Here we are safe…</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Naming Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Remember, the good guys always win because winners write the history books. The Dai Li won't be including this in the textbooks.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Agent Sho knew the field agents viewed him with suspicion, perhaps even distain. Civilians would think even worse of him. But he would have stuck with architecture if he cared what people thought. </p><p>He didn’t need reputability. Not when Agent Sho saved lives.</p><p>So the little prince <em>probably</em> wouldn’t have gotten himself killed without Dai Li intervention.</p><p>(Though Agent Sho would argue maybe<em> at best,</em> because <em>dear Oma </em>how<em> had </em>he survived the Avatar State, breaking in <em>and </em>out of Ponhai Stronghold, diving through the turtleseal holes, the-)</p><p>The point still stood. Agent Sho might not be saving a child from death by rockslide this time, but he <em>was</em> giving him a safer life. A happier life. A life where he wasn’t chasing Spirits damned <em>turtleseals</em> in the Koh blasted Arctic. Oma and <em>Shu-</em></p><p>Agent Sho calmed himself, then bent open a cell door. Letting a citizen see your unease was a surefire way to induce panic, and there was no room for panic in Ba Sing Se.</p><p>The holding cell was as comfortable as one could ever expect a holding cell to be. There were enough glow stones to maintain a soothing, shadowless light, a soft futon with thick blankets in the corner, and a small table that held a now empty plate and a pitcher of water.</p><p>Agent Sho carefully sank back on his ankles, lowering himself until he was level with the boy sitting on the futon. The boy peered out at Agent Sho from the safety of his blanket cocoon with the brightest eyes Agent Sho had ever seen. They called most Fire Nation eyes gold, but the boy’s truly were remarkable. Pure as well-cut topaz, clear as sunset over the lake.</p><p>They were absolutely striking, especially now that they weren’t wide with panic or narrow with spite. </p><p>(<em>Gold? Jewel? Sunlight?)</em></p><p>That part had been easy. Had the boy been a normal firebending refugee, he really would have been back and well rested for his morning shift at the tea shop. Behind all that anger was fear, and behind the fear was an <em>aching</em> need for safety and approval. Assuage the fear, and a model citizen emerged like a moon moth from his cocoon. Simple.</p><p>(<em>Happy? Virtuous? Honorable?)</em></p><p>This boy was not simple. He sat in the center of a spider-mantis web of politics and Spirits, almost equally blind to both. Agent Sho had thought more than once that he'd have been a good young cousin to the Fire Lord, as was his lot by birth. Smart enough to earn a position, tenacious enough to keep it well, steadfast and loyal by nature, and too blunt to scheme.</p><p>And spiritually sensitive enough to practically light up a room. </p><p>Even <em>favored</em> heirs were offered to the Sages for power a fraction of what this boy possessed. And the Fire Lord banished a strong loyal heir, intended for him to die of neglect-</p><p>The Dai Li never accused Fire Lord Ozai of having <em>sense</em>. </p><p>(<em>Govern? Rule? Establish?</em>)</p><p>“Are you hungry? Thristy?” Agent Sho asked.</p><p>The boy shook his head, a muffled rustling from within layers of cloth. Gold eyes turned pleading-</p><p>“It’s cold.”</p><p>He’d said that every time Agent Sho fetched him- first nearly involuntary little whispers, now open pleas for him to <em>fix this, please</em>. Agent Sho was glad this would be their last session. The underground drained firebenders in a way food and blackets couldn’t fix.</p><p>Agent Sho smiled reassuringly. “I know," he said as he stood and held out his hand. “You can take the blanket with you.”</p><p>Cautiously, the boy took his hand, and let himself be pulled up off the futon. His weight was nearly negligible for his size, but they were used to that. Firebenders starved fast, and it took special effort to build their appetites back up without them getting sick.</p><p>Patiently, Agent Sho gave him a moment to adjust the blanket before he placed a hand on his shoulder and led him out of the cell.</p><p>The boy gave him an apprehensive look when they came to the room with a stone chair in the center, but let himself be guided over. Sat down with no resistance. </p><p>Agent Sho lit the lantern and let his voice fall into an even cadence.</p><p>
  <em>You’re safe here. There is no war within the walls. Here, we are safe. Here, you are Zhen...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>(Precious, rare; real, genuine; virtuous, chaste, loyal.)</em>
</p><p>
  <em>(And <strong>theirs.)</strong></em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>From my googling, the name Zhen means: Precious, rare; real, genuine; virtuous, chaste, loyal. In this fic, Zhen (Zuko) writes it as virtuous, caste, loyal, though the other meanings are often referenced in pet names.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which we are reminded that Sokka was the oldest boy in his entire village for a few years, and Zuko... is Zuko. Neither of them is familiar with this "social skills" thing, but Koh take they WILL make it work.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>You may have noticed some... minor changes. Fear not: this is the only new chapter. The outline has been shipped off to its own work and the lovely Mayfriend has beta'd all the actual chapters.</p><p>Y'all. Y'all. I'm crying like a homeowner on an HGTV show. "Is that REALLY my chapter?" 10/10 experience, definitely recommend.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For such stressful circumstances, Ba Sing Se was surprisingly… boring. Mind-numbing, soul-destroying, I’m-going-to-beat-my-head-against-these-stupid-walls-if-I-don’t-find-<em>something</em>-to-do boring.</p><p>The obvious solution - take a <em>walk</em>, Sokka - had ceased being adequate a couple nights ago. Sokka had explored everywhere within easy walking distance, and he couldn’t justify the hassle of going to Joo Dee for a train map, nor the certainty of getting lost without one.</p><p>Now he was... reassessing.</p><p>Sokka unsheathed Boomerang. Threw it, caught it. Threw it again.</p><p>As he walked aimlessly through the streets, he thought he heard that particular cadence of voice that came with <em>performance</em>, and stopped dead. That didn’t sound at all like the ebbing flow of storytelling, which was all the more reason to check it out.</p><p>“Through all the long night/Winter moon glows with bright love/Sleet her silver tears,” a girl recited, her voice carrying out from the ajar window. A room full of pretty, inner ring girls listened intently, along with a singular, less well dressed boy.</p><p>Sokka sighed. He’d always liked poetry, but now it only made him think of Yue. If only those vile ashmakers hadn’t cut short their beautiful budding lo-</p><p>Something struck Sokka in the back with the force of a boomerang, and he overbalanced, crashing through the window to a chorus of high-pitched shrieks.</p><p>“Are you okay?”</p><p>The One Guy was the first to make it to his side, hovering over him like a benevolent humming-swan helping Sokka get out from under the remains of the window frame.</p><p>Which, to be honest, was not doing good things for his ego. The One Guy looked almost exactly his age, and only slightly fancier <strike>and unfairly prettier</strike>. An actual boy his age that he could have been on equal footing with, if he hadn’t goofed like an absolute gopher-donkey. Sokka would have felt better if he’d been out of his league entirely like the girls made up like porcelain dolls.</p><p>“I am <em>so</em> sorry,” Sokka said. “Something struck me in the rear. I just… wound up… here?”</p><p>The girls giggled and clapped, and The One Guy looked at him all wide eyed and awed, like he’d just single handedly dragged back an entire cari-moose for the tribe. A feeling the exact opposite of Appa dropping out the sky surged through his chest, and he grinned dazedly.</p><p>“Five, seven, then five/Syllables mark a haiku/Remarkable oaf.” An older lady with a crazy-ornate headdress sniffed, disdain rolling off her in waves.</p><p>Well, excuse you! He was <em>trying</em> to bask in all this glorious attention here! Sokka had literally been around the world, and these were the prettiest girls <strike>(and boy)</strike> he’d ever seen in his life. And by some minor miracle, <em>they weren’t laughing at him</em>, not even after his less-than-graceful entrance.</p><p>“They call me Sokka/That is in the Water Tribe/I am not an oaf,” he snipped back, carefully counting out the last five syllables.</p><p>The girls giggled again, and The One Guy looked at him with a slightly different flavor of awe. He’d… just dissed the teacher, hadn’t he?</p><p>“Tittering monkey/In the spring he climbs treetops/And thinks himself tall.”</p><p>One Guy winced, and the girls oohed dramatically. Oh yeah, he’d definitely dissed the teacher, and she was <em>not</em> happy. But nor did she have any right, calling him a tittering monkey in front of these girls and The One Guy!</p><p>“You think you’re so smart/With your fancy little words/This is not so hard,” Sokka fired.</p><p>One Guy froze in terror, and the girls <em>ooohed</em> even more dramatically. Oh yeah, it was <em>on</em>, lady!</p><p>The teacher crossed onto the stage. “Whole seasons are spent/Mastering the form, the style/None calls it easy.”</p><p>“I calls it easy/Like I paddle my canoe/I’ll paddle yours too!”</p><p>So easy he could even add visual effects! Ha!</p><p>“There’s nuts and there’s fruits/In fall the clinging plum drops/Always to be <em>squashed</em>.”</p><p>Oh-kay. Yeah. So that visual was a bit. Um. <em>Visceral</em>. But Sokka was still on a smooth roll to cool town. Take <em>this</em>, teacher lady!</p><p>“Squish, squash, sling that slang/I’m always right back at ya/Like my...boomerang!”</p><p>The teacher narrowed her eyes, and took her seat. Sokka was officially legendary. He was the unrivaled <em>king</em> of poetry.</p><p>“That’s right, I’m Sokka/It’s pronounced with an “okka”/Young ladies, I rocked ya!”</p><p>A sudden chill swept over the room, like Katara had conjured an entire glacier. The ladies stared with open hostility, and The One Guy looked heartbroken. Like Sokka had burned his piece of that cari-moose from earlier.</p><p>Oh no. Oh <em>no</em>. He’d said ‘young ladies’ when The One Guy was <em>right there</em>! He was the ONE GUY! People probably made fun of him for that!</p><p>Sokka didn’t protest when the guard hoisted him by the collar, resigned to his justly divined fate. He was a terrible person and totally deserved it. A journey literally around the world and here he was, still insulting guys for not meeting the arbitrary demands of toxic masculinity. What if The One Guy didn’t want to come back after this? What if Sokka had destroyed his dream of becoming a master poet?</p><p>“Uh, that’s one too many syllables there, bub,” the guard said. Then literally tossed Sokka out the door.</p><p>Ex-<em>cuse</em> him? ONE TOO MANY SYLLABLES?! They weren’t tossing him out for insulting The One Guy… but because his <em>haiku</em> had one too many syllables? Sokka took it back. He hoped he’d just inspired One Guy to leave and find a better poetry club.</p><p>Sokka had a well-deserved sulk as the cadence of haiku resumed. Then stopped again a few moments later. The door opened for a second time, and the guard patted The One Guy’s back as he escorted him out. “It’s okay: not everyone’s suited for the stage.”</p><p>The One Guy quietly sniffled. “That was awful. You don’t have to lie.”</p><p>“I’m not lying to make you feel better,” the guard said. “Lots of people get stage fright. Madame Macmu-Ling is just in a bad mood.”</p><p>The One Guy smiled morosely. “I suppose so.”</p><p>The guard went back inside, and The One Guy turned. Sokka casually leaned against the nearest wall and ‘examined’ his boomerang so he looked cool and aloof. Yeah, nailed it.</p><p>“Oh!” The One Guy said. “Sokka. Hi?”</p><p>The One Guy had the cutest blush, visible even from several feet away in lamp light. And the most adorably awkward wave. How could Sokka have carelessly kicked a polar-puppy like that? He had a bandage over his eye, for Tui’s sake.</p><p>“Zhen here. Um. How are you?”</p><p>Sokka sheathed Boomerang, then realized that meant he had nothing to do with his hands. “I’m good. Doing good. Just. Um. Meditating on the follies of hubris. And stuff.”</p><p>Yikes. This was a disaster of a conversation, and he was a disaster of a person. He needed to just man up and apologize… then go home and bemoan this memory for the rest of his life. </p><p>Sokka took a fortifying breath. “I’m sorry for pissing off your teacher and getting you kicked out,” he said.</p><p>Zhen ducked his head, scuffing the cobblestones with a round toed boot.</p><p>“It’s okay. She probably would have anyway. I’m… not very good at this.”</p><p>“No,” Sokka said. “You’re not bad at poetry - and even if you were, the whole point of lessons is to get better - and it’s <em>not</em> okay. I’ll make it up to you somehow.” Sokka’s stomach chose that moment to demonstrate an orca-whale mating call, and he flushed red.</p><p>“FOOD! I mean, I can make it up to you. Right now. With noodles. Or dumplings. Or soup. If you want.”</p><p>Sokka… really hoped he wanted. And he didn’t exactly know why. He had <em>a lot</em> bigger things to worry about than what a random Ba Sing Se boy thought about him. It wasn't the end of the world- Sokka was <em>literally </em>already working on that problem.</p><p>Zhen rubbed the back of his head. “It’s fine! And I already told Bapa that I’d eat after. I have coin.”</p><p>“So, noodles?” Sokka asked.</p><p>“Yes noodles.” Zhen nodded.</p><p>Sokka crowed on the inside. Ba Sing Se noodles were <em>so</em> good: easily the next best thing to a whole cari-moose. Sokka may have crashed the train to cool town, but he was<em> advisor to the Avatar</em>. He’d recover. Starting with some smooth, smooth small talk.</p><p>“So - you go to poetry lessons here often?” Sokka fought the urge to check if he could shove his foot in his mouth as easily physically as metaphorically. Yes, let’s bring attention back to your major humiliation and bigger faux pas. He might have forgotten about them for ten whole seconds, <em>moron</em>.</p><p>“This was my first meeting, actually. My first time out of the house, really.”</p><p>“Um. What?”</p><p>“My eye,” Zhen gestured to the bandage covering a full third of his face. “This is the first time I’ve been anywhere but the healing huts since they started treating it.”</p><p>Sun and stars. The depths of Sokka’s depravity truly knew no bounds.</p><p>“Oh <em>man</em>,” Sokka choked out. “Now I feel really bad, ruining your first day out and all.”</p><p>“No! It’s fine: It’ll be healed in a few days and then I can go everywhere.”</p><p>Silence. Total. Awkward. Silence. <em>Think</em>, Sokka, think!</p><p>“Everywhere?”</p><p>“Not <em>everywhere</em> everywhere. But school. And maybe some plays.”</p><p>“...What are plays?”</p><p>.</p><p>Apparently, plays were like stories and story dances smooshed together, but without the focus on tribe history. And Zhen was more passionate about them than Sokka was about seal jerky; Sokka had never even <em>dreamed</em> that was possible. He was really passionate about seal jerky.</p><p>“–but that’s really hard to translate for people unfamiliar with Earth Kingdom flower symbolism, so–”</p><p>Sokka hadn’t said a single word other than ‘cool’, ‘interesting’, and ‘fascinating’ in an hour. He also hadn’t understood a single word past the initial definition, either. But <em>Spirits</em> did Zhen make him want to know everything about plays ever.</p><p>Zhen’s chopsticks thunked against his empty bowl. His uncovered eye widened in bemusement. At last, Sokka’s (second) chance had arrived!</p><p>“I’ll take that!” he said. “Glass noodles with picken and chile-basil, right?”</p><p>Zhen blinked at him. “Yes, but I can-”</p><p>“Nope! It’s not Apology Noodles if you get up. Nuh-uh, no money either.”</p><p>“But-”</p><p>“No!”</p><p>Zhen finally acquiesced, although that might’ve been because he’d gotten a little stuck as the dinning area filled up and other patrons blocked him into his corner seat.</p><p>At last, Sokka would present Zhen with Apology Noodles and once again face the world with honor and righteousness. Sokka thanked teenage metabolism, because Zhen had sneaky-snuck his own money in for his first two bowls of fire noodles. <em>And</em> Sokka’s emergency lassi.</p><p>(Sokka’s tongue still smarted, but he would not judge Zhen for his taste in ashmaker spices, no he would not. Nope! No judging! Sokka had learned his lesson!)</p><p>“Same as before?” the noodle man asked.</p><p>“Just the glass noodles,” Sokka said. “I’ve eaten enough for two days.”</p><p>Noodle man nodded sagely. “Firebender metabolism sure is something, isn’t it?”</p><p>“Sure, I-”</p><p>Wait. <em>Wait.</em> He didn’t say <em>teenage</em> metabolism.</p><p>“Excuse me… <em>what</em>?!”</p><p>“You didn’t notice his uniform? Guiding Lights Academy. Super tough school. Guess he’s on break with that injury, because we <em>never</em> see students on class days.”</p><p>Firebender. Firebender School. <em>Ba Sing Se</em>.</p><p>(Wait, did that mean there were waterbenders here too <em>and nobody ever told them</em>–)</p><p>Sokka took the noodles in silence, as if his very understanding of the universe hadn’t just imploded. Zhen took the noodles with some fancy food-gratitude saying, and Sokka sat down.</p><p>“Zhen?” he asked.</p><p>“Hm?” Zhen mumbled through his noodles.</p><p>“You go to a firebender school?”</p><p>“Yeah. Well, as much as I go anywhere right now.”</p><p>“I… didn’t know Ba Singe Se had firebending schools.”</p><p>“Of course we do! The Fire Nation might prefer the Master-Apprentice system, but schools are much more efficient.”</p><p>“More efficient… yeah.”</p><p>Zhen put his chopsticks down.</p><p>“Is… something wrong?”</p><p>“No!” Sokka said. “No, I just… didn’t realize there were… more than earthbenders here. I am traveling with the Avatar, you’d think something like that would come up.”</p><p>Sokka laughed as his chances of facing the world with honor and righteousness disintegrated before his eyes.</p><p>“It’s okay. I know a lot of immigrants don’t like firebenders. I just…”</p><p>Zhen wouldn’t even look at him. Until he did.</p><p>“I thought you already knew.”</p><p>Oh. Sokka realized. <em>Oh</em>. Even under lamplight, Zhen was a little too pale, a touch too sharp for pure Earth Kingdom. And his unbandaged eye quickly became purest gold instead of palest green under closer scrutiny. Anybody who wanted to know, <em>knew</em>. He couldn’t hide it. Sokka knew something about that.</p><p>“Zhen,” Sokka said. “It’s not a problem. I promise it’s not a problem. I was just… surprised, is all. I’m not in the least bit exaggerating when I say I’m super freaking <em>pissed</em> nobody told us we could find Aang a firebending teacher here.”</p><p>“It’s fine–”</p><p>“No, it’s not fine: you can’t help what you bend, and you can’t help where you’re born. Let me apologize to you, damn it!”</p><p>“Apology accepted then. See?” Zhen slurped up a mouthful of pain noodles.</p><p>“That’s only one Apology Noodle. Now I owe you another Apology Noodle for being a dick. <em>Infinite</em> Apology Noodles.”</p><p>Zhen chewed furiously, because <em>he</em> was a good person with good table manners.</p><p>(Sokka had spat out his bite of Zhen’s noodles back into the bowl. So he actually owed Zhen<em> three</em> Apology Noodles in as many hours. Why did Katara let him out in public again?)</p><p>“No more Apology Noodles,” Zhen said, “because you weren’t being a dick. There is no war in Ba Sing Se, but how could you forget about it in a week?”</p><p>Sokka leaned forward, staring Zhen right in the (unnervingly gold) eye. “You know about the War?” He hissed.</p><p>Zhen scrunched up like an incredibly well-mannered hedge-mouse. “Umm. How can anyone not know about the War?”</p><p>He said, as he whispered and glanced around like someone might jump them. Sokka <em>hated</em> <em>Ba Sing Se</em>. He really, truly did.</p><p>“Nobody says anything about it! <em>Even when we ask</em>!” Sokka whispered back.</p><p>“It’s not polite!” Zhen whisper-shouted, before going bright red. Which… probably did explain the upper ring. And Zhen. Zhen was probably mortified. Sokka really wasn’t helping his ‘not being a dick’ case here. But he needed answers, and he needed them <em>yesterday</em>.</p><p>“And you’re fifteen, of course no grown ups will talk about the War with you! It’s just… not done. My Bapa won’t even let me read about it until I’m eighteen.”</p><p>“Eighte-! How are you supposed to fight a war nobody will even talk about?!”</p><p>“You’re not! This is <em>Ba Sing Se</em>: soldiers fight. Not civilians!”</p><p>Oh, Sokka thought. That was it, wasn’t it?</p><p>Nobody talked about the war in Tunuviaq either. Sure Chief Arnook and his council had, when they wanted to use the Avatar to defend the tribe, but the people? Nobody outright stone walled him like in Ba Sing Se, but they didn’t <em>talk</em> about it, either. Because they could ignore it. Because <em>their</em> fifteen-year-old sons weren’t fighting it. They hid behind their walls and their isolation, and expected Sokka to forget about the War on their doorstep. Unless it was <em>convenient</em> for him to fight for them.</p><p>“I,” Zhen stared at his hands again. “I think he might talk to you, if you ask. Bapa’s… good at ignoring convention, when it’s for the better. You’re not staying in Ba Sing Se forever. He’ll talk to you.”</p><p>“You think?”</p><p>“I <em>know</em>,” Zhen said, determination lighting in his eyes. “Let’s go.”</p><p>“What? <em>Now</em>?” Sokka squawked. The jump from ‘it’s okay if you hate me’ to ‘come talk to my <em>dad</em>’ was giving him whiplash.</p><p>“Were you planning to do something else?”</p><p>“No – but I need paper, and <em>questions</em>, and, and–”</p><p>“We have paper. And Bapa wouldn’t leave anything out. Let’s <em>go</em>.”</p><p>For the record: this? Felt like the split second before Appa dove into a loop-de-loop. But Sokka couldn’t think of any way out of it that didn’t require yet another infinite Apology Noodles.</p><p>“Yeah,” he said. “Let’s go.”</p>
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